In molecular biology, the insect pheromone-binding family A10/OS-D is a family of small helical proteins postulated to contribute to the specificity of the insect’s olfactory system by binding components of the natural pheromone mixtures. A class of small (14-20 Kd) water-soluble

proteins Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

, called pheromone binding proteins, first discovered in the insect sensillar lymph but also found in the mucus of vertebrates, is postulated to mediate the solubilisation of hydrophobic odorant molecules, and thereby to facilitate their transport to the receptor

neurons A neuron, neurone, or nerve cell is an electrically excitable cell that communicates with other cells via specialized connections called synapses. The neuron is the main component of nervous tissue in all animals except sponges and placozoa. N ...

. The product of a gene expressed in the olfactory system of '' Drosophila melanogaster'' (Fruit fly), OS-D, shares features common to vertebrate odorant binding proteins, but has a

primary structure Protein primary structure is the linear sequence of amino acids in a peptide or protein. By convention, the primary structure of a protein is reported starting from the amino-terminal (N) end to the carboxyl-terminal (C) end. Protein biosynthes ...

unlike odorant-binding proteins. OS-D derivatives have subsequently been found in

chemosensory organ A chemoreceptor, also known as chemosensor, is a specialized sensory receptor which transduces a chemical substance (endogenous or induced) to generate a biological signal. This signal may be in the form of an action potential, if the chemorecept ...

s of

phylogenetically In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

distinct insects, including cockroaches, phasmids and

moths Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

, suggesting that OS-D-like proteins seem to be conserved in the insect

phylum In biology, a phylum (; plural: phyla) is a level of classification or taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class. Traditionally, in botany the term division has been used instead of phylum, although the International Code of Nomenclature f ...

. OS-D and related proteins are members of the insect pheromone-binding family A10/OS-D.

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Further reading